Starbucks comes through for us in a big way!

May 20, 1:49 PMAtlanta Gluten-Free Food ExaminerTiffany Janes

Starbucks began a test market for gluten free brownies in NYC a couple of years ago. They went over like (gluten free) hot cakes and our community begged the company to offer the brownies nationwide. Apparently they were listening because they released a new gluten free treat nationwide the first week of May in the United States. It was released earlier in some parts of Europe, which isn't surprising, which isn't surprising since we are so far behind much of the world on this issue.

Since the brownies had gone over so well, I assumed that was the product being offered on a mass scale. But Starbucks wanted the new product to appeal to as many people as possible so they introduced a gluten free orange sponge cake. To be exact, it's called Valencia Orange Cake. It's gluten free, dairy free and soy free. The kicker is that now the gluten free / nut free community wants a treat as well. The new cake is made with almond flour and toped with almonds. As a nut lover, I could not be happier and the fact that a cake free of several allergens could taste this great is amazing to this reviewer!

At every Starbucks in Atlanta that I know of, this new cake is available. My store had a problem figuring out how to ring it up, which was odd since the guy behind the counter mentioned selling eight of the mini cakes to one guy and another eight to the same guy the following day. After tinkering with the register, asking his clueless manager and her calling someone else, they finally rang up the $1.99 cake. I would expect to pay between $3 and $4 so this is quite a value. Almond flour does not cost the same as wheat flour, after all - not to mention the extra packaging. The fact that the cake is free of several allergens and still tastes great is amazing to this reviewer! 

Here is a direct quote from the Starbucks press release about the new cake - "An estimated 5% of the U.S. population avoids or is in some way affected by a sensitivity to gluten. Gluten is a protein that is commonly found in rye, wheat, and barley (as well as other similar grains)." That number is five times greater than the estimated 1% of people with Celiac disease in this country. Maybe that's why my favorite products are out of stock so often these days. 

In any case, if you like sponge cake and oranges, this cake is a must try product. However, it seems that there are two camps on the taste. Some of us love it and don't consider it very sweet while others think it's almost too sweet. Either way it's something we can enjoy when meeting glutenoids for coffee - instead of taking in our own cookies or brownie as I've been doing for the past three years. Starbucks has truly rocked our world! Now if they'd just offer us something for lunch as well...gluten free soup anyone?